The hunting of wild game is a popular recreational activity for a great number of people. Although small game animals are a popular quarry for hunters, it is the larger game animals, such as deer, antelope, elk, bear, sheep and the like, that receive the most attention from hunters. These large game animals often reside in remote areas. Once the quarry is taken, there is the task of transporting the carcass back to a point that is accessible with a vehicle of some type. Often the hunter must move the quarry across rough terrain to bring it to an access point. To assist in this transportation process, many hunters carry a length of rope with them during the hunt, and use the rope to drag the carcass across the terrain to the access point.
Some examples of innovative devices used for dragging animal carcasses or the like are disclosed by the following patents. Sapp, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,547,456, discloses a game transporting device including a flexible panel of slippery material fitted with both shoulder straps and hand straps used to drag a slain animal from a hunting area. A similar portable carcass skid with a single rope handle is disclosed by Duerst in U.S. Pat. No. 3,771,808. McGee, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,132,427, shows an animal carcass transporting device that includes a frame sled with hold down straps and pulling straps affixed to the front of the sled for pulling an animal secured to the sled.
Both Keyser, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,238,068, and Alley et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,335,891, disclose sled-like devices for transporting game animals or injured individuals. Hallett et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,823, disclose a drag reducing apparatus that is wrapped around an animal carcass to allow the carcass to slip over the terrain with minimal friction when dragged head first. A portable sled for transporting injured persons is disclosed by Vadnais in U.S. Pat. No. 4,046,393, while Thompson, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,321, describes a singletree draft bar for attachment to a tarpaulin used to drag yard wastes and the like.
Thus, there is an unmet need for a light weight, durable device that can be used to drag an animal carcass from a remote site to an access point from which a hunter can further transport the carcass by conventional means.